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Fractional CMO · hiring brief

How to Hire Fractional CMOs

How to Hire Fractional CMOs: brief the commercial problem marketing must solve, set the budget and team the CMO controls, and test each candidate on your own data before agreeing days.

Brief us on this role →See CMO roles

Reviewed by Fractional Quest · updated 28 October 2026 · 5 sources linked below

  • 3–5on every shortlist
  • 5stages of vetting
  • IR35set out on every brief
How to Hire Fractional CMOs: a marketing leader walking her team through campaign concepts (illustration)

On the board · last 90 days

Which CMO roles are on the board?

Fractional CMO roles first, then the seat in any engagement and the wider function when the board runs short.

Roles

See every role on the board →

Every fractional role in the UK is on the fractional jobs board.

In the press

The brief

How to Hire Fractional CMOs: what must the role own?

Say what the business needs from marketing in revenue terms.

  • 01Commercial problemSay what the business needs from marketing in revenue terms.
  • 02BudgetSet the spend and suppliers the CMO controls.
  • 03ExecutionName who delivers the work: staff, agencies or freelancers.
  • 04ReviewAgree the monthly measures and the review point.

Role reference: Chartered Institute of Marketing framework. The CIM framework sets out the strategic and leadership capabilities to test when hiring fractional CMOs and senior marketing experts.

How to hire

How to hire fractional CMOs: where to find them

Where can you hire a fractional CMO? Through a specialist recruiter, your investors’ networks, or direct approach.

Most fractional CMOs already hold two or three engagements, so they respond to a clear brief, not a job advert. Send the commercial problem, the budget authority and the days.

For an ecommerce brand, ask for experience with your channels and margins specifically; a B2B CMO and an ecommerce CMO are different hires.

The working pattern

What changes when the CMO is fractional?

Fractional CMOs are senior marketing experts working on agreed days for several companies. They set strategy and own results; they are not an extra pair of hands for campaigns.

The illustrative brief: an ecommerce brand after a funding round. Paid acquisition costs are rising and the founders run marketing between other jobs.

The appointment owns: The fractional CMO rebuilds the channel mix and owns the marketing budget, two days a week.

Another owner retains: The founders keep brand direction; the performance agency runs the channels.

The case is illustrative; it does not describe a Fractional Quest placement.

From brief to start

How do you hire a fractional CMO, step by step?

The first three steps are ours; the last four are what has to be true before the first day. We don’t promise a shortlist by a date.

  1. Day 0
    01
    The 15-minute call
    What the CMO must own, the working pattern, the start date and the budget.
    You and us
  2. Week 1
    02
    Scope agreed in writing
    The outcome the seat exists for, the days, and how the engagement will run for IR35.
    Us
  3. Weeks 1–3
    03
    Search, references, shortlist
    We approach people who aren’t looking, verify tenure, take references ourselves and return three to five.
    Us
  4. Week 4
    04
    Mandate
    Write the commercial goal, budget authority and days.
    You
  5. Before day one · 2
    05
    Data
    Share spend, revenue by channel and customer data.
    You
  6. Before day one · 3
    06
    Suppliers
    Introduce agencies and freelancers with the CMO as their lead.
    You
  7. Before day one · 4
    07
    Plan
    Agree a 90-day plan in the first month.
    You

Your figures

What does part of a CMO’s week cost?

Rate × days × weeks, against a loaded full-time package. Move the sliders; the numbers redraw.

  • CMO band £750–£1,400 (Connectd 2026)
Year-one cost, fractional
£101,200
2 days a week · 46 weeks · day fees, before tax · our arithmetic
Fractional executive£101,200
Full-time CMO, loaded£168,300£765 a day over 220 days · our arithmetic
Fractional costs less in year one by£67,100

Our arithmetic. £147,000 Robert Half 2026 median salary + employer NI at 15% above £5,000 (HMRC) = £168,300. Excludes pension, bonus and any search fee.

Assessment

How should you assess CMO candidates?

Put the same work and evidence in front of each candidate before comparing answers.

  1. Comparable decision
    Ask for a channel or positioning decision and its commercial result.
  2. Authority
    Test a spend decision that crosses the agreed budget authority.
  3. Team
    Ask how they direct agencies and freelancers against one plan.
  4. Handover
    Ask what reporting they leave so results survive their days off.

Acas recommends a consistent, fair selection process: choosing who to interview.

Vetting

What happens before anyone reaches your shortlist?

Five stages before a candidate reaches a shortlist of three to five.

  1. Pedigree screen
    Tenure
    We verify prior tenure in the seat, at the scale and stage you need. No consultant presenting as an executive.
  2. Mandate fit
    Fit
    Fit to your stage, sector and the problem the seat exists to solve, not a CV keyword.
  3. Reference deep-dive
    Verify
    We take references ourselves, from recent clients and boards: what they delivered, not what they titled it.
  4. Shortlist
    Shortlist
    Three to five candidates, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
  5. Kick-off
    Start
    Scope, first-month outcomes and the contract agreed before day one.

The full process is on how we vet.

The right pattern

Does this hiring pattern fit the work?

Test the amount of the week, the expected end and the continuity needed before writing the contract.

Questions

How to Hire Fractional CMOs: questions, answered

Through a specialist recruiter, investors and your network, or direct approach. Brief the commercial problem first; it is what good fractional CMOs respond to.

Read next

Related hiring and role pages

Sources

Where does every reference on this page come from?

  • cim.co.uk
  • HMRC
  • legislation.gov.uk
  1. 1
    Chartered Institute of Marketing framework cim.co.uk
  2. 2
    Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 HMRC
    Employer National Insurance at 15% above £5,000 a year.
  3. 3
    Understanding off-payroll working (IR35) HMRC
    Status depends on how the engagement runs; medium and large clients make the determination.
  4. 4
    Check employment status for tax (CEST) HMRC
    HMRC’s own status check for each engagement.
  5. 5
    Employment Agencies Act 1973 legislation.gov.uk
    The law a recruitment agency works under; no fee to a work-seeker.

For hiring managers

Bring the brief. We bring the shortlist.

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  1. A shortlist of 3–5, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position
  2. Fractional, interim, part-time, temporary or permanent — and non-executive directors
  3. Every candidate through our five-stage vetting
  4. Your briefs and their candidates, in one room